Thursday, March 31, 2016

I decided to do some more testing with a double batting on a mini quilt made from a panel. I bought the small panel for 25 cents at my local quilt shop a couple years ago, so it was perfect for a test quilt. I used a layer of Hobbs 80/20 on the bottom and a layer of Hobbs Wool on top. I quilted it with Floriani's polyester embroidery thread. I love how the thread sparkles in the sunlight.

The first thing I did was outline the prints in the panel.

Then I quilted in the background with small spirals.

I used a scrap from the backing of Floating for the binding on this quilt. While I do a lot of bindings by machine, I like to sew the binding down by hand when there is a high contrast with the backing fabric.

I love how it turned out and can see more simple panel quilts in my future. I had so much fun playing with the free motion quilting.

I think I like the Kona Snow backing as much as the front.

The puffy batting almost acts like trapunto without all the extra work.

This mini quilt finishes about 11 by 20 inches.

What surprises me with the double batting is how much stiffer the quilt is. It is perfect for a wall hanging, but I don't think I will do it on a cuddle quilt.

Monday, March 28, 2016

I want the quilting on my WISP to really show, so I have been contemplating using a double batting. I decided to test it out. This is made with a layer of Hobbs 80/20 batting and a layer of the Hobbs wool batting. This sample measures 8 inches by 14 inches.

I put it in the washer and dryer with a load of whites to see how it would look after laundering.

It now measures 7.5 by 13.5 inches, not bad shrinkage with the cotton/poly blend and the wool batting.

The back of the sample (80/20 side) looks good too.

I love how it turned out and think I will be using it in my quilt soon.

Thursday, March 24, 2016

I am happy to say that the quilting of Tammy's second quit went much better than her first one four years ago. This is due in part to a better quality minky and the Hobbs 80/20 batting which acts as a stabilizer for the minky. The minky on her first quilt was much more stretchy and the thin polyester batting did not stabilize it. Basting the quilt with my basting spray also helped a lot.

This time I attached the ric rac while quilting instead of having her sew it on. It is much easier to add it with a free motion quilting foot than a regular presser foot because I didn't have to turn the quilt with every curve.

It is hard to tell from the picture above, but I set up my Tiara in my mother's basement for the quilting of this quilt. It was a really tight fit in my sewing space at the bottom of her stairs, but so worth it. I was really missing my own quilting machine.

After quilting the quilt, I squared it up and added a traditional machine binding in blue.

I love how the quilting looks on the minky backing.

I also love how the ric rac puffed up a little bit because of the quilting.

The ric rac looks really neat on the backing. I outlined some of the butterflies in the center stripe and love how it turned out.

Tammy was very pleased with this finished quilt.

She made it to coordinate with her first quilt because that butterfly fabric is the dust ruffle on the baby crib.

I hope this quilt is loved by her new granddaughter as much as the first.

Monday, March 21, 2016

Believe it or not, but four years ago I was afraid of minky. It was all because of this quilt. This was pieced by Tammy, my mom's friend, and quilted by me. You see, I used the knowledge and experience that I had and finished the edges of this quilt with the envelope method. I had simply quilted some minky applique quilts for my mom and we had used the envelope method successfully. However, when I quilted this one with more derail there was a big tuck on the back.

Minky does not hide tucks. at. all. Luckily, Tammy loved how it turned out and never complained about my mistake. I have learned a lot about minky in the last four years and have luckily moved past my fear of minky. Yet, I felt sick inside every time I thought about this quilt.

Well, last month Tammy contacted me again. She asked me to quilt another quilt for her second grandchild and wanted me to repair this quilt. It is loved and used every day, causing some of the fabric and batting to wear through. We discussed how I felt about my original mistake and she told me to not worry about it again because this quilt is so loved. I feel so much better now and happily repaired this quilt.

This is Tammy's granddaughter's favorite corner.

The first thing I did was cut off the original edging.

Then I added a patch of batting and whip stitched it into place.

I cut a new stripe of giraffe fabric for each end and added it on top with my walking foot.

After folding the giraffe fabric over, I just quilted over the top through all the layers.

There is extra quilting which shows on the back, but it really blends in.

Then we added a traditional binding like I now do on all of my minky backed quilts.

The orange binding adds so much to the overall look of the quilt, and here is the favorite corner.

I made all of the repairs in one morning so her granddaughter wouldn't be without her quilt for one night. While she can't find her favorite corner anymore, she is happy to have her quilt back and still sleeps with it every night.

Thursday, March 17, 2016

I kept working on my WISP (work in slow progress) and got all of the blocks finished. Then I laid them out on the floor and marked each block with a butterfly pin.

I loved how I could write a letter an number on each of the butterfly pins. Then I purchased a new Clover Mini Iron II and pressed each of the blocks. By sewing only on the drawn seam lines, I was able to swirl each of the intersecting points in the block. (See my piecing method here.)

Pressing made a big difference in the looks of the blocks!

I debated about sewing the sixteen inch blocks into a quilt top by hand or machine, because I was not looking forward to sewing such long seams by hand. I spoke to my dad about it and he asked, "Are you going to quilt it by hand?"

I said, "Well, no."

Then he asked, "Then what's the point in piecing it entirely by hand?"

I liked his answer so much that I finished the piecing by machine. Now I am happy to show you the finished flimsy!!! It has taken me nearly two years to complete the flimsy. That is a long time for me. ;)

Thursday, March 3, 2016

I am happy to say that I have made more progress on my WISP (work in slow progress). The picture above is what it looked like last October. Five blocks were completely sewn, two blocks were swen into quarters, and there were pieces for four more blocks.

I brought the project with me to a two day conference I attended and got lots more done.

Here is seven blocks completely sewn, and the other five blocks are in quarters.

Tuesday, March 1, 2016

This is yet another stash busting quilt for me. It used up the last of this stack of fabric.

That stack of fabric was enough for six of my quilts and a quilt my niece made. I seriously love turning stacks of fabric into quilts! Now my old stash fits into one laundry basket sized bin.

I named this quilt, a gift for a family member, Double Time.

It uses the Double Slice Layer Cake pattern from the Missouri Star Quilt Company and has musical instruments on the back. The instruments reminded me of time signatures and timing. Combining the two, I cam up with Double Time.

I decided to quilt this on my little Pfaff because I can quilt so much better when I am sitting down.

I quilted it in a feathered spiral design. It was so much fun to try something new.

It was really hard to keep the design the same size on my little machine, so I decided to purposely make them different sizes. That made it consistently inconsistent. Lol.

The backing fabric came from my mom's stash. I love how it tied in the teals, blues, and the fuschias.